Dermot Kennedy is the first Irish act to reach Number 1 on the Official Irish Singles Chart in five years with Meduza collaboration Paradise: “Thank you so so much”

Dermot Kennedy is officially the first Irish act to land a Number 1 on the Official Irish Singles Chart in over five years.

Paradise the Dubliner’s collaboration with Italian production trio Meduza climbs from last week’s Number 3 to lead this week’s Top 50, ahead of Ariana Grande’s Positions at Number 2 and last week’s Number 1 Therefore I Am by Billie Eilish (3).

On hearing the news, Dermot told OfficialCharts.com/Ireland:

“Thank you so so much for getting Paradise to Number 1 in Ireland. It is not lost on me to be the first Irish artist to do that in five years. It means so much to me. I want to say thank you to Meduza for having me on their song, on such a beautiful track. Thank you for the support.”

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Collaborators Meduza - who claim their first Number 1 anywhere in the world with Paradise commented:

“We have a special relationship with Ireland, especially the Irish fans. We have to remember that Ireland was literally the first ever show we did as Meduza. We feel blessed and honoured to know that our first Number 1 in Ireland is with an Irish act, so we are really happy.

"Working with Dermot was super crazy because he is so talented, and we noticed that as soon as we remixed his track Power Over Me last year that he was perfect for our sound and we think he will conquer the world with his music.

"We want to thank all the Irish fans that are supporting Paradise. We can promise that Ireland will be one of the first countries that we will play live again once the pandemic is over.”

MORE: Homegrown acts who scored a Number 1 in the 2010s on the Official Irish Singles Chart

The last act from Ireland to reach the helm of the national chart was boyband HomeTown some 295 weeks ago in April 2015 with their second single Cry For Help. The last homegrown solo artist to claim a Number 1 was Finbar Furey in August 2013 with The Last Great Love Song, which topped the charts following the success of the TV song competition The Hit that the track featured on. The last collaboration featuring an Irish act at Number 1 was The Script’s Hall of Fame featuring will.i.am from September 2012.

There’s more good news for Dermot too; Don’t Cry his collaboration with Mancunian rapper Bugzy Malone debuts at Number 25 this week, becoming his 12^th Top 50 hit.

Back to this week’s Top 10, Dua Lipa’s latest single Levitating lifts to a new peak of Number 4, one of two songs in this week’s Top 5 for her. Miley Cyrus’ Prisoner, which features Dua, is this week’s highest new entry, coming in at Number 5.

See Nobody from reality TV star-turned-recording artist Wes Nelson and London rapper Hardy Caprio breaks into the Top 10 for the first time at Number 9, and Monster the collaboration between Canadian artists Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber debuts at Number 10, Shawn’s 12^th Top 50 hit and Justin’s 55^th.

Just outside the top flight, The Business from Tiesto rockets eight places to 11, BTS score the most downloaded song of the week with Life Goes On at 19, and US rapper CJ’s viral hit Whoopty ascends 12 spots to 20.

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Lil Nas X’s new single Holiday gains traction climbing 12 rungs to Number 37, and for the first time since 2010, Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber’s Number 12 hit Eenie Meanie is back in the Top 50 at Number 45 as it soundtracks a new craze on TikTok.

Finally five Christmas songs appear in this week’s Top 50: Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You (22); Last Christmas from Wham (29); The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s Fairytale of New York (40); Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee (42); and Michael Buble’s It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (43).

See the full Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50

Listen to The Official Chart with Bláthnaid Treacy at 7pm every Friday on RTÉ 2FM.

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